HIKES:                             


    The following words are a bit different than that of my usual rants. Tonight's words will appear a bit more anecdotal. As clearly indicated by the highlighted and underlined word, tonight I'm prepared to discuss the vastly unusual topic of hikes. Odd, yes, but please, bear with me. During my third venture to fetch the Procreator more sugar that she doesn't need - she always uses the word "need," although any being with intelligence can tell it's a want - my mental cauldron began to bubble with words. Mind you, the woman is 42, diabetic, obese, and yet she insists that I go out (YET AGAIN) with a pocketful of change that she managed to gather from the remains of a 7-year old piggy bank, to get here MORE CANDY. At 10:30 P.M. WHEN PRACTICALLY EVERY STORE IS CLOSED DUE TO THEIR USUAL STORE HOURS. Despite the initial swaying of my words, this is merely the backdrop to what I actually want to say. When I finally get to the corner store and pull out my 75 cents to pay for the darn Snickers, the clerk tells me that all chocolate bars are now 85 cents. I give him a brief look of disbelief. I sigh to myself, pull out another dime and slap it on the counter, grab the Snickers, and proceed to make my route back home with an unsatisfied expression on my countenance.
    As I walked, I mused at the thought of the ephemeral life of that dime inside my pocket. It was then that I had been met with a twinge of annoyance. Who authorizes the price increase for a darn Snickers? I know it sounds like nothing, but anyone who understands The Butterfly Effect should come to realize this: that measly 10 cent price increase leads to an eventual additional millions of dollars to The Mars Corporation (C) and corner stores citywide. It's like fair hikes with the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority for those of you who were wondering; essentially New York City's subway system administrators). I was outraged when the price of a single fare was raised from $2.00 to $2.25. A quarter may not sound like much of a difference, but when you have thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers making the daily commute to and from work, etc. IT ADDS UP. On a daily basis, the MTA reaps an additional $1.3 million thanks to that quarter increase. And what do they do with all that extra dough? They either stash it away for their own benefit, or use it to make "weekend renovations" that are seemingly non-existent in terms of end result, and serve to make the weekend commute even more frustrating than it needs to be with longer, alternate routes that replaced the original path.
        Furthermore, my fizzled thoughts delved into my lack of synergy with nature, as I gazed upon the brilliant night sky on my way home. Fare hikes led to to my unusual urge to go on an actual hike. Some fresh air would be rather nice. City life can be overly congested. I've never had the pleasure of actually getting to go camping in the actual wilderness, but oddly enough, I really want to. Yes, I do realize that I could potentially be sleeping on a patch of soil while under constant attack by wild insects, but it's the price to pay to reconnect with nature. I would gladly take a nature hike over a fiscal one.